The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

"He offers a rich and fascinating history, essential for any understanding of modern Africa's troubles—and a welcome contrast to the blame-the-Africans-for-their-problems books that have proliferated in the past decade."

For 40 years, Davidson (Can Africa Survive?, 1974, etc.) has fought to secure Africa's place in world history.
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"Persuasively argued and thoroughly documented, this is clearly no mere set of unfounded allegations."

A detailed investigation of the extent to which American universities, Harvard and Yale in particular, collaborated with government intelligence agencies in monitoring and suppressing political dissent in the early cold war period.
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"Erudite and action-packed, poetic and personable: a must for anyone seeking an unadulterated view of life in the Central Asian republics, still being swept by change. (Thirty-five b&w photographs—not seen.)"

The turbulent chronicle of an overland trip through six Moslem republics of the former USSR, undertaken by Uzbekistani poet/publisher Akchurin in mid-1990 as the Soviet state entered its final year.
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"Tyrrell has a lot to say about virtually everything under the American political sun, and much of what he says is noteworthy; but some judicious editing would have pruned his more prickly pontifications."

The founder of The American Spectator and author of The Liberal Crack-Up (1984), etc., widens the scope of his satiric fire to include his fellow conservatives.
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In an engrossing but largely unpersuasive dual biography, Casdorph (History/Virginia State) argues that the ``close connection between Lee and Jackson started long before their glory days upon the fields of northern Virginia''; that ``it was an association, however sporadic, that enabled each man to test the other's mettle''; and that this ``interconnectiveness'' led the two soldiers to their military triumphs.
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A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears at the bookstore, its unexpected arrival gives Fikry the chance to make his life over—and see everything anew. “Zevin writes characters who grow and prosper,” our reviewer writes, “in a narrative that is sometimes sentimental, sometimes funny, sometimes true to life and always entertaining.”
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FEATURED NONFICTION AUTHOR

For readers who love creative nonfiction (or literary journalism or whatever designation suits you), if you haven’t read any work by Michael Paterniti, take note. The longtime GQ and New York Times Magazine contributor and author returns today with a collection of essays, Love and Other Ways of Dying, which ...

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